Teenagers with sleep problems may be more likely to self-harm, a new study suggests.

Deliberate self-harm can include a suicide attempt that did not succeed, as well as self-harming incidents where suicide is not the intent. Such incidents may stem from a desire to communicate or relieve stress and can include drug overdoses and self-cutting.

In 2013, over 11,000 visits to hospitals in Ireland were due to self-harming.

Researchers in Norway set out to investigate any link between self-harm and sleep disorders, such as insomnia, in teenagers.

They used data from a major youth survey that involved over 10,200 young people aged between 16 and 19 years. This data included details about sleep and self-harm.

Over 700 of the teenagers were found to self-harm and 55% of these said they harmed themselves on at least two occasions.

The study found that teenagers with sleep problems were much more likely to report self-harm than teenagers with no sleep problems.

In fact, those who were found to suffer with insomnia were four times more likely to self-harm.

"Insomnia, short sleep duration, long sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, as well as large differences between weekdays versus weekends, yielded higher odds of self-harm consistent with a dose-response relationship", the researchers commented.

The study also noted that girls were more likely than boys to self-harm, with cutting the most prevalent behaviour.

The researchers emphasised the importance of healthy sleeping habits during adolescence.

"Both healthcare professionals and other people should be aware of the fact that good sleep routines can prevent both stress and negative emotions. Sleep regulation is one of the factors one should consider to use in preventing and treating self-harm among young people," they said.

Details of these findings are published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.